3. “Reality, mostly, is not what it is, but what we have
decided it is”
(de Mello, 1988)
4. “First we make our conclusions’ –then we find some
way to arrive at them”
(de Mello, 1988)
5. “Compared to what we ought to be we are
only half awake” (William James,1924)
“The ultimate value of life depends
upon awareness and the power of
contemplation rather than upon
mere survival." (Aristotle, n.d)
“Problems cannot be solved at
the same level of awareness that
created them” (Einstein, n.d)
6. AWARENESS, CONSCIOUSNESS AND MENTAL
PROCESSING
Consciousness has been distinguished from other
modes of mental processing—namely, cognition,
motives, and emotions.
Consciousness encompasses both awareness and
attention.
(Brown & Ryan, 2003)
7. DEFINITION OF MINDFULNESS
“Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the
present moment, and non-judgementally” (Kabat-Zinn,
1994)
“Mindfulness involves intentionally bringing one’s
attention to the internal and external experiences
occurring in the present moment” (Baer, 2003)
“In a state of mindfulness, thoughts and feelings are
observed as events in the mind, without over-identifying
with them and without reacting to them in in an
automatic, habitual pattern of reactivity” (Bishop, Lau,
Shapiro et al, 2004)
8. FACETS OF MINDFULNESS
Self-Regulation of attention
“so that it is maintained on immediate experience,
thereby allowing for increased recognition of mental
events in the present moment”
Orientation to Experience
“orientation that is characterized by curiosity
openness, and acceptance”
(Bishop et al, 2004)
14. ORIGINS
Buddhism
Mindfulness is central to the Buddhism tradition
“The primary interest of this tradition is the quality of
consciousness in the present moment”, (Didonna,
2009)
Sati (mindfulness) – awareness, attention and
remembering
Used to alleviate suffering
15. MINDFULNESS IN THE SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN
“largely unconsidered outside the
fields of philosophical and religious
studies” (Dane, 2011)
“as being ‘seen as’ too mystical or
‘Zen-like’ to merit systematic
investigation” (Dane, 2011)
16. MINDFULNESS IN THE SCIENTIFIC DOMAIN
Operational Definition
“no systematic efforts to establish the defining criteria of
it’s various components”
“general descriptions of mindfulness have not been
entirely consistent across investigators”
Bishop et. al, 2004
Empirical Measure
“provides new opportunities for empirical investigations of
the nature of mindfulness and it’s relationships with other
psychological constructs”
Baer et. al, 2006
17. MINDFULNESS MEASURES
The Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS: Lau, Bishop, Segal, Buis, Anderson, Carlson, Shapiro &
Carmody, 2006)
Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS: Brown & Ryan, 2003)
The Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale (PHLMS: Cardaciotto, Herbert, Forman et. al. 2008)
The Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale (CAMS: Feldman, Hawes, Kumar, Greeson &
Laurenceau, 2007)
The Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS: Baer et al. 2003)
The Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnare (FMMQ: Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer & Toney,
2006)
The Frieburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI: Buchheld, Grossman & Walach, 2001)
The Mindfulness Questionnaire (MQ: Chadwick, Hember, Mead, Lilley & Dagnan, 2005)
18. TMS
Curiosity
“reflects awareness or present moment experience
with a quality of curiosity”
Decentering
“emphasising awareness of ones experience with
some distance and this identification rather than
being carried away by ones thoughts and feelings”
19. TMS
You will now be handed out the Toronto
Mindfulness Scale
This should just take a few minutes to
complete
20. TMS SCORING
All items are written in a positively keyed
direction so no reverse scoring of items is
required
Curiosity score: items 3,5,6,10,12,13
Decentering score: items 1,2,4,7,8,9,11
21. YOUR MINDFULNESS SCORE
If you have a high mindfulness score
well done
If, however, you do not don’t worry
It is possible to improve your
mindfulness (i.e. meditation)
25. INTERVENTIONS
1. Mindfulness- Based Stress Reduction
2. Mindfulness- Based Cognitive Behavioural
Therapy
3. Mindfulness-Based Approaches to Eating
Disorders
4. Mindfulness- Based Relationship Enhancement
Training Program.
26. MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION
Developed by Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn
Brought mindfulness into the mainstream of
medicine and society
MBSR -mindfulness, meditation and yoga
27. AIM OF MBRS
The mind is known to be a factor of stress and
stress related disorders
Consciously and systematically working with stress,
pain, illness and demands of everyday life.
28. Ignite inner capacity and infuse your life with
moment-to-moment awareness
Such mindfulness helps patients use their inner
resources to achieve good health and well being
29. REASONS FOR JOINING:
Stress
Chronic pain and illness
Anxiety and panic
GI distress
Sleep disturbances
Fatigue
High blood pressure
Headaches
30. WHAT THE COURSE CONSISTS OF:
8 weekly classes and 1 day long class that includes
-
Guided instruction in mindfulness meditation
classes
Gentle stretching and mindful yoga
Group dialogue/discussions
Individually tailored instruction
Daily home assignments
31. RESULTS AFTER COMPLETION:
Decrease in physical and psychological symptoms
Increased ability to relax
Reduction in pain levels
Enhanced ability to cope with pain
Greater energy and enthusiasm for life
Improved self esteem
Ability to cope better in stressful situations
33. AIMS OF MBCBT
Helps to understand depression
Discover what makes one vulnerable to staying at
the end of the downward spiral
Connection to downward spiral and what makes
like worth living
34. REASONS FOR JOINING:
Chronic pain
Hypertension
Heart disease
Cancer
Anxiety and panic
Depression (reduces relapse 50%)
35. WHAT THE COURSE CONSISTS OF:
Meeting with instructor prior to commencing
8 weekly 2 hour classes
One all day session between week 5 and 7
Main work is done at home with CD’s
36. RESULTS AFTER COMPLETION:
To recognise and disengage from mind states
characterised by negative thought
See thoughts as negative events rather than facts
37. MINDFULNESS-BASED APPROACHES TO
EATING DISORDERS
Alexithymia
A change from externally oriented concrete thinking
style to internal orientation
Tend to use eating as a way to avoid or escape
negative emotional states
38. AIMS OF MB-EAT
Learn to approach eating in a more relaxed, non
judgemental way
Improve registration of appetite regulation
Reduce misappraisal of internal physical states
39. More attuned to utilizing physiological appetite cues
for initiating and ending eating periods
Offers a strong opportunity to improve emotion
regulation
Recognise that thoughts are just thoughts
41. WHAT THE COURSE CONSISTS OF:
Four Mindfulness-based programs combined:
1. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
2. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
3. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
4. Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training
42. EMPOWER APPROACH
Nine Core Skill Sets:
1. Nonjudgmental observation of reactivity
2. Separating out emotions
3. Separating out thoughts
4. Separation & tolerance of behavioural urges
43. 5. Recognition of hunger and satiety
6. Recognition of taste
7. Discernment of appetite cues from other internal
events
8. Identification of true needs
9. Addressing true needs
44. MINDFULNESS-BASED RELATIONSHIP
ENHANCEMENT TRAINING PROGRAM
Foster greater awareness, ease and fresh
discovery of life’s experiences
Enhances access to innate resources of joy,
compassion and connectedness
45. AIMS OF MBRE:
Enrich the relationships of the relatively happy, non-
distressed couples
Beneficially affecting individuals:
Optimism
Spirituality
Relaxation
Psychological distress
46. Favourably impacting couples levels of:
Relationship satisfaction
Autonomy
Relatedness
Closeness
Acceptance of one another
Relationship distress
47. WHAT THE COURSE CONSISTS OF:
8 weekly 150mins group sessions & 1 full day
retreat
Sample Session (week 3) -
Sitting meditation
Group discussion on practices and homework with
focus on pleasant experiences
Individual yoga
Homework assignments
48. RESULTS AFTER COMPLETION:
Enriching of current relationship functioning
Improvement of individual psychological well being
49. CASE STUDY
44 participants – married or cohabitating for at least
12 months
Completed questionnaires prior to course and after
course
Kept daily diaries of:
Relationship happiness Relationship distress
Stress Coping Overall Stress
50. Results provided empirical support for MBRE
Couples found ‘a way of being’ in all of life’s
experiences rather than a way to cope with specific
troublesome aspects of life
57. REFERENCES
Carson, J. W., Carson, K. M., Gil, K. M., & Baucom,
D. H. (2004). Mindfulness-based relationship
enhancement. Behaviour Therapy, 35, 471-494.
Mindful Living Programs (2011). What is Mindfulness-
Based Stress Reduction? Retrieved from:
www.mindfullivingprograms.com/whatMBSR.php
UMASS (2011). Stress Reduction Program. Retrieved
from: www.umassmed.edu
58. Baer, R. A. (2003).Mindfulness training as a clinical
intervention: A conceptual and empirical review.
Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10,
125–143.
Bishop, S.R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L.,
Anderson, N.D., Carmody, J., Segal, Z.V., Abbey,
S., Speca, M., Velting, D., Devins, G. (2004).
Mindfulness: A Proposed Operational Definition.
Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11 (3),
230-240.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you
are: mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New
York: Hyperion.
59. James, W. (1924). Memories and studies. New York:
Longmans, Green, & Co. (Original work published
1911)
De Mello, A. (1988). The Prayer of the Frog: Vol 1: A
book of story Meditations.
Didonna, F. (Ed.), The Clinical Handbook of
Mindfulness (221-243). New York: Springer.
Dane (2011). Paying Attention to Mindfulness and Its
Effects on Task Performance in the Workplace.
Journal of Management, 37(4), 997-1018.
60. Baer, R. A., Smith, G. T., Hopkins, J., Krietemeyer, J.,
& Toney, L. (2006). Using self-report assessment
methods to explore facets of mindfulness.
Assessment, 13, 27–45.
61. EXTRA RESOURCES
Kabat-Zinn: Intro to mindfulness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc
Cognitive Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf6Q0G1iHBI
Malcom Huxter, Guided Meditation: Body Scan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJjafJouvt4